USDA Whistleblower Launches Regenerative Ag Farm to Train...

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USDA Whistleblower Launches Regenerative Ag Farm to Train Next Generation of Farmers

[ http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/09/jon-lund ... sher-farm/ ]

Ken Roseboro | March 9, 2016 12:31 pm

Jonathan Lundgren built an international reputation as a leading entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). [ http://ecowatch.com/2015/12/29/jonathan-lundgren-usda/ ] Now, after filing a whistleblower complaint against the USDA for blocking his research on negative impacts of insecticides, Lundgren is applying his science to regenerative agriculture [ http://ecowatch.com/?s=regenerative+agriculture ] at Blue Dasher Farm, a new research and demonstration farm in South Dakota. [ http://bluedasher.farm/ ]

Research Showed Neonicotinoids Harmed Butterflies

Lundgren worked as a senior research entomologist at the USDA for 11 years, conducting risk assessment research on pesticides and genetically modified organisms. [ http://ecowatch.com/news/food-agricultu ... -organism/ ] Last fall the agency suspended Lundgren, claiming he made an error in a travel authorization for a speaking engagement. Lundgren said the agency suspended him over his research showing negative effects on monarch butterflies [ http://ecowatch.com/?s=monarch+ ] from neonicotinoid insecticides. [ http://ecowatch.com/?s=neonicotinoid ]

“We discovered things that weren’t particularly convenient,” he said. “I saw there was a clear link to pesticide use.”

Lundgren filed a whistleblower complaint against the USDA, detailing attempts by USDA managers to block publication of new research, bar discussion of results with the media and disrupt his lab’s operations.

Laura Dumais, staff counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which filed the complaint, said: “Dr. Lundgren is suffering the proverbial professional death by a thousand cuts precisely because of the implications of his scientific work for agribusiness.”

Lundgren said he had no research agenda. “If our data showed neonics had not caused problems with monarchs, I wouldn’t have any problems publishing that,” he says.

The USDA tried to dismiss Lundgren’s complaint, but in December a judge rejected the request, allowing it to move forward.

The legal battle may take months or years to be resolved.

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